Markus du Plessis is a Chartered Accountant in audit practice with a global Big 4 firm, auditing clients within the Government and Public Sector. As a CA(SA), he is registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and currently works in the United Kingdom. 

In this article, he shares his personal experience with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) compliance as a professional in a global context. Writing from the perspective of a CA (SA), he offers helpful tips for professionals across disciplines on getting value from our CPD activities, making compliance simpler and more effective, and helping us achieve long-term career growth. 

“My journey to becoming a Chartered Accountant began with my Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting (with Honours) at South Africa’s North-West University from 2014 to 2017. Once my degree was complete, I entered a three-year training contract with the Office of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA), working as a trainee auditor within the Government Sector. During this period, I was signed off on all technical and professional competencies required by SAICA, and completed both board exams: 

• Initial Test of Competence (ITC) and 
  
• Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)

I became a Chartered Accountant in early 2021 and remained with the AGSA for another year as assistant audit manager, working across a variety of provincial departments, the provincial legislature, state-owned entities, and local government clients. 

To broaden my perspectives on governance and build my technical skills further, I then joined audit firm EY in the United Kingdom as a qualified audit senior within the Government and Public Sector. I’m responsible for audits of entities within the National Health Service (NHS), the National Audit Office (NAO), higher education, and local government (councils, police authorities, and fire authorities). The audit reports of public institutions review the spending of taxpayer funds, and are taken into account by foreign investors too, and I enjoy the impact my role has. I’ve gathered experience in external assurance, digital audit, assessment of internal controls, risk assessment and reporting, audit of performance information and audit of compliance with laws and regulations, and I consider my Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in this context. Read more for my thoughts on my route to becoming a Chartered Accountant and beyond, the ‘output’ focus of CPD, my personal experiences with it so far, and tips for your CPD and career journey.

​Professional pride is a good thing. But, it can go too far. 

On the positive side: 

• it helps us enjoy our work more, and 
• makes us much more likely to volunteer to support our professional community. 

And, we should be pleased that we've earned our qualification after all the blood, sweat & tears we invested. After all, it's a significant part of our identity. 

As humans, we naturally like to associate with others like us, and feel part of a group / tribe. And, we flock to events and love content specifically about that group. It's easier interacting with likeminded people - we can have in-jokes, and they 'just get us', without us having to explain our backstory. 

But it becomes dangerous when we allow it to:

• define us statically, or 
• hinder us from learning from and working together with other groups for mutual benefit. 

A focus on our exams and professional intricacies is important while we're studying, yes, else we won't pass! But, once we're qualified, I think we should spend a much greater proportion of our time with other professionals - sharing our expertise cross-functionally and learning from them. 

When we collaborate on challenging issues, we're far more likely to make progress using different ways of looking at problems - diversity of thought applies to professions too. 

It frustrates me when (some) professionals I interact with have an us-vs-them mindset, preferring to spend time in their professional- or practice-specific bubble, inwardly-focused, and even sometimes self-congratulatory. 

Do you agree? Or am I perhaps an outlier for saying this out loud? 

Earlier this year, I ran a poll on LinkedIn, seeking to understand how professionals view their professional bodies. They’re such a big part of our professional lives, from our exams to our Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and our livelihoods. And, naturally, while we pay ongoing fees to them, often annually, our relationship with and expectations of them change as we mature in our careers. 

Our relationships with our professional bodies
In addition to the membership fees we pay, some of us also volunteer our time to help shape our professions, perhaps by contributing to research on professional working parties and/or committees and/or presenting our insights for free at professional conferences or webinars. I was personally quite surprised when I learnt how small the percentage of a profession’s membership that volunteers generally is. Similarly, the percentage of those who vote in elections of council members is low… These point to a significant proportion of professionals who are disengaged, and only do what they are required to do to maintain their professional designation (such as meeting any minimum CPD requirements). It also amazes me how a substantial number of professionals kick into panic mode weeks or days before the deadline, grasping at content that will allow them to confirm their compliance before pushing CPD to the back of their minds for the next cycle.

On the other end, there are those who volunteer significant amounts of their time (perhaps supported by their employers) for their profession over years. Their dedication and ability to deliver on everything they’re involved in is phenomenal. A few of Protagion’s professional mentors have fulfilled roles as presidents/chairs of their professional bodies, or have contributed to the council / leadership team, so have first-hand experience.

Read more for the poll results and my reflections on them, exploration of the evolving role of professional bodies and examples of their forward-looking initiatives, and links to profession-specific pages we’ve put together for you sharing example career paths, selected mentors, and further resources for members of each profession.